Community Empowerment and Engagement Tenants Information Service Understanding People, Unlocking Potential 24th March 2017

This is about….. Setting the context of the new legislation Highlighting the key points – using the general themes for our discussion to make us think about how we engage Raising issues for discussion amongst delegates Identifying areas / themes that are relevant within the context of community planning, community engagement and capacity building

Before all that though…. Lets thinks about why and how…. Only engage where the you expect / want the people you engage with, to be able to inform and / or influence (and give them the tools / capacity to do so!!!!!!!!!) Be creative: social media / digital………but don’t forget the value of face to face Always tell people what you did as a result….not sure that we’re very good at this bit

The Theory of Everything (Scotland) Act 2015 It covers a wide range of activity related to empowerment

Participation Requests Community Planning Allotments Asset Transfers Participation Requests Community Right to Buy Non-Domestic Rates Football Clubs Common Good Property Delegation of Forestry Commissioners’ Function Participation in Public Decision Making

However, lets look at the areas where you might have most interest… Community Planning Participation Requests Asset Transfer

Community Planning

The CP expectations in a nutshell….. It is explicitly about how public bodies work together and with the local community to plan for, resource and provide services which improve local outcomes in the local authority area, all with a view to reducing inequalities. The statutory bodies must participate with community body (who wish to be involved) to enable them to participate in the CP process.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Scottish Enterprise / HIE New Duties (to support shared leadership and collective governance) rests with…. Council NHS Police Scotland Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Scottish Enterprise / HIE

However the following range of organisations are now statutory partners under the new Act: A National Park Authority The IJB Regional Strategic Body under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 Board of Management of a Regional College

Shared leadership Governance and accountability Resourcing improvement Tackling inequalities Focus on prevention Focus on key priorities Understanding local communities’ needs, circumstances and opportunities Community participation and co-production Effective performance management

Local Outcomes Improvement Plan By October 2017, CPPs must publish: Local Outcomes Improvement Plan Locality Plans Locality Plans Locality Plans

The LOIP must…….. The LOIP should set out clear and agreed priorities for improving local outcomes and on tackling inequalities, and demonstrate a robust link between these and the CPP’s understanding of local needs, circumstances and aspirations. Identify those geographical communities / communities of interest that experience significantly poorer outcomes Outline how participation with communities, businesses and third sector has helped to develop and influence this understanding “LOIP should be clearly based on active participation by communities and community bodies”

Locality Plans Working within a locality or neighbourhood enables the CPPs and their partners to tackle inequalities for communities facing disadvantage Often easiest for community bodies to engage / participate in community planning at locality or neighbourhood level.

One size doesn’t fit all! Locality Plans No requirement to have a plan for each community / area in the authority Secure community participation Locality planning alone may not be sufficient to target neighbourhoods or communities of interest…. One size doesn’t fit all!

So in essence Less of this….. And more of this…..

But………… We need to think about how we engage – do we really know what works? I thought I knew……………….working with people who know how to engage is invaluable Think about when, who, where

Discussion Points How can you get involved / are you already involved? What is the awareness of community planning, and the organisations that are involved? How do you want to engage? Do you ever get asked? (Timing is crucial). What do you want to do? (go as far as delivering services?).

Participation Requests

Expectations of community participation There is now a statutory basis for community planning partners to take reasonable steps to enable communities who wish to participate in community planning to do so. This could mean looking at funding, staff and other resources to support engagement. i.e. there is now much more emphasis required on community development and capacity building

Not a replacement for engagement , but an opportunity to establish dialogue. “where a community body believes it could help to improve an outcome it will be able to request that a public body, which is a public service authority, takes part in a process to improve that outcome” A Public service authority can be: Board of further or higher education; Health Board; Scottish or Highlands and Islands Enterprise; Local Authority; National Park Authority; Police Scotland; SEPA; Scottish Fire and Rescue; Scottish Natural Heritage; regional Transport Partnership. (Note: there are statutory CP partners not included as public bodies for participation requests) Or person designated as public service authority by an order made by Scottish Ministers or class of persons designated as public service authorities by an order

Outcome Improvement Process Final guidance will probably include approaches to an assessment process (to be confirmed) The authority must agree to the participation request unless there are reasonable grounds for refusing it. Decision notice will: Describe how the outcome improvement process will operate Explain how the community participation body is expected to participate Describe how any other persons are expected to participate in the process Outcome Improvement Process

Discussion Points Were you aware of this new opportunity? Where might you be able to assist and improve outcomes?

Asset Transfer

Section 94 of the Act requires each relevant authority to publish a register of land which it owns or leases, “to the best of its knowledge and belief”. Does not include: public roads / underground railways / canals/ bus stations / houses, hostels and lodging-houses / controlled reservoirs subject to non-disclosure notice

Procedures There should be a single point of contact to support CTBs and guide them through the process The guidance specifies the level of information that CTBs would need to supply Once request is made, public bodies are prohibited from selling or disposing of assets / land until process with requesting CTB is completed Draft timescales around how long the process should take (e.g. 6 months to make a decision) Appeals process in place

Discussion Points What are the challenges and opportunities for you to take part in this process? What assistance is available? What impact do you want to make? …..there are reasons why assets are no longer ‘viable’.

Other engagement methods / groups

How to get involved? Participatory budgeting Community grants Locality forums Community councils Tenants associations Community groups Wider third sector The individual

Terminology…….aaarrggghh

Consultation Engagement Co-production Sustainability Do you want pizza or pasta? (closed) What would you like for dinner? (open) Co-production Let’s make a meal together Sustainability Let me show you how to cook.

So to conclude? Need to get (consistently) better at engagement More opportunities than before to get involved Learn from each other (e.g. CLD)

Contact Details Gerard McCormack Programme Manager: Change Management Improvement Service 01506 283850 07584 217122 gerard.mccormack@improvementservice.org.uk